Spring Green

I have a new cookbook that I'm slightly in love with: Chicken and Egg--A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes. It's a compilation of the wonderful recipes inspired by a family's chickens. Since I have a huge urge to raise chickens of my own, this book fills two purposes for me. 1. To further that urge as well as justify it by showing me all of the wonderful dishes I could bring to my kitchen if I did raise a few hens. 2. It allows me to live vicariously through this family so that I don't act on the urge and actually buy some chicks the next time I see them sold at farmer's! Although I'd love some chickens, I don't think it's practical since my backyard is either garden or cement and I'll be moving to who-knows-where in less than 2 years. Instead, I pour over this cookbook whenever I get the urge.

The first recipe I made out of this book reflected the blooming spring outside--Green onions, cucumbers and basil make this an extra-ordinary egg salad and much more colorful than the normal, boiled eggs, mayo, mustard, salt and pepper egg salad that is often found at spring picnics. To prep for this meal, I made homemade mayonnaise that can be seen in my last post. The rich olive oil that I used to make the mayo brought a wonderful fullness to the salad. I highly recommend taking the time to make the mayo if you are so inclined.

Note* I hear my neighbor's hen clucking in their backyard right now. Resist the urge, Brittany. You can't have chicks right now!

Cucumber Basil Egg Salad
Adapted from Chicken and Egg by Janice Cole

Ingredients:
6 hard boiled eggs, diced
3/4 cup seeded, diced cucumber. I prefer Persian cucumbers with the skin on.
1/4 cup minced shallots
1/2 cup sliced green onions. The green parts only.
4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine the eggs, cucumber, shallots, green onions and basil in a bowl. Stir in the mayo, salt and pepper. This can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days if it is made with conventional mayo, but should be eaten in the same day if made with homemade mayo.

I prepared some bread to go with this meal topped with fresh herbs and olive oil from the garden and popped it in the oven for a bit to dry it out and make it somewhat crunchy. It was a perfect addition, but some nice pita or a regular sandwich would be great too. Or slice some cucumbers and use it as a dip! I was absolutely crazy about the way that this came out. It had all of the familiar flavors of egg salad, but was completely revved up by the flavor of the basil and green onions and the wonderful crunch of the cucumber.